In this article, I argue that one source of information the interpretation process makes use of in determining the meaning of an utterance are conceptual frames which are evoked in the hearer by the expressions used in the utterance. The frames provide potential discourse referents in the form of thematic roles which may or may not get further specified in the course of interpreting an utterance or text. More generally, I want to suggest that the idea of conceptual frames being evoked during interpretation can be used to model (at least in part) a particular type of context, namely the <i>background</i> against which a given utterance is interpreted. This background allows the hearer to understand more than what is explicitly expressed.